2. Lonnie Walker IV
This might be a surprise addition to some but for frequent readers of Lake Show Life, you know that we have been discussing the possibility of trading Lonnie Walker IV prior to him getting hurt. Him resting with injury has shown that while his individual numbers have been solid this season, his play might not have been conducive to winning.
Consider the fact that out of every player on the Lakers roster, Walker has the worst on/off net rating by a country mile. The Lakers’ net rating is 6.6 points worse when he is on the court versus when he is off the court. That is a not a great sign.
However, he is still a young player that has put together decent numbers this season so he does have trade value to the right team. There are two other important factors to consider when it comes to potentially moving Walker.
The first is his contract. At $6.4 million, Walker has an extremely moveable contract that is key to making a trade in the first place. The Lakers have to ensure that the salaries are close to matching in a trade and it is hard to do that by patching together a slew of minimum deals.
Second is the fact that he is a Klutch client. If Los Angeles is going to bring in any two guards to get minutes over him, Klutch is going to flex their muscles to get Walker on a new team. Why? He is playing for a new deal and putting up numbers, even on a bad team, is going to get him paid more than if he plays 15 minutes a game in Los Angeles.